Good morning,

Do your statewide and legislative public servants know where you stand? Have you told them, yourself? Find their contact information at the bottom of this email. And, yes, a phone call or note is almost always better than an email.

Here is today’s Texas Minute.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Tuesday, April 28, 2020
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• Texas is sort of opening. At yesterday’s briefing, Gov. Greg Abbott said his stay-at-home order is expiring on April 30... but many businesses – including barbershops, hair salons, and gyms – won’t be able to open until May 18 or later.
       
• Gov. Abbott is permitting retail shops, malls, theaters, and restaurants to reopen this Friday, but only at 25 percent occupancy. As Brandon Waltens reports, new statewide restrictions will be applied as those businesses are allowed to reopen over the next month. The governor did not address what medical or scientific data his “strike force” relied upon to arrive at the 25 percent number.
      
• Vulnerable populations, such as senior citizens and those with pre-existing conditions, are advised to continue staying at home. The governor said no local jurisdiction can levy a fine for someone not wearing a mask, though masks are recommended by state and federal officials.
         
• Per the governor’s latest orders, sporting activities are forbidden if “more than four participants play the sport at a time.”
      
• “Sorry son, [Gov. Abbott] says you can’t get back out on the baseball field yet. Want to go hangout somewhere totally germ-free like a mall or movie theater?” – Buddy Kipp, Empower Texans Director of Communications
      
• Starting on page 39 of the governor’s 64-page booklet on phase 1 of reopening the state, one finds the operational requirements for worship services as well as “funeral services, burials, and memorials.” Those include alternating rows of attendees, allowing households to sit together, but ensuring two chairs or six feet space between individuals not in the same households.
      
• Liberty Counsel is calling on the churches around the country to open and believers to start meeting again on Sunday, May 3, which they are calling ReOpen Church Sunday. 
             
• “The lockdowns have closed churches at a time of greatest need, and they must reopen to meet the burgeoning needs of the community. Churches are now more essential than ever to bring comfort, hope, and help to the people they serve. Each church is different and each one must assess when and how best to reopen.” – Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel

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• Join me and Texas Right to Life’s Jim Graham at 3pm for the Jim & Michael Show, streaming live on Facebook. The archived show will be available on our YouTube channel and website shortly afterward.

• “It is the pinnacle of selfishness to relegate others to poverty, hunger, homelessness, domestic violence, depression, and suicide for an imagined feeling of safety. You have the right to stay in your home if you choose.” – Matt Rinaldi
      
• Keller resident and college professor Kris Kittle shares with Robert Montoya her fight in North Texas for education, and how parents can start making a difference.
       
• “I don’t have any qualms or any problems reaching out to the superintendent … if there is something that is unjust that needs to be addressed or something that he needs to be informed about. He only knows what his people are telling him. I feel as a parent—as someone who is boots-on-the-ground, seeing these things—I can make sure he is aware of what’s going on. And then it’s up to him on how he’s going to handle it, but he knows people are watching.” – Kris Kittle, Ph.D